Improvement in traps for balls



,T. WILKIE. TRAPS FOR BALLS.

No. 191,628. Patenteamne 5,1877.

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yal/QM #ZW UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIGE,

THOMAS WILKIE, 0E ALBANY, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN TRAPS FOR BALLS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 19 l,628, dated June 5,1877 application led April 7, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS WILKIE, of Albany, in the county of Albanyand State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Traps for Balls,of which the following is a specification In playing games witha bat andball, an apparatus has sometimes been made use of to throw the ballupward from the ground so that it may be struck with a bat by theplayer, and this apparatus is generally termed a u trapy My inventionconsists in an improved trap or apparatus whereby the ball is or may bethrown upward with more or less velocity, according to the force appliedto the trap.

I use a supporting block or shoe, which is to be placed upon the ground,and, to pre1 vent the same becoming misplaced or moved when in use, itis provided with short spikes, which enter the ground and retain theblock in place.

This block or shoe may be of' wood, or a hollow casting of metal.

A lever is pivoted upon the upper side of the block. One end of thislever is spoonshaped, and sets into a socket in the shoe, and a springnear the outer end of the lever keeps it up to its place. The ball isplaced upon the spoon-shaped end of the lever, and if the other end bethen struck with a bat or other instrument the ball is thrown upward tobe struck by the player. A

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a plan of my improved trap, and Fig. 2 is anelevation, partly in section.

The block a is of wood or metal, and is provided with the projections orspikes b to retain it in place upon the ground. The lever c is pivotedin the bearings d upon the upper side of the block. One end of the leverc rests in the recess in the block a, which is the normal position of'the lever c, and it is kept in place by a spring, e, near the outer endof the lever. The block a is cut away or inclined beneath the outer endof the lever c, so that the lever may be depressed at that end. The endof the lever which rests upon the block is made spoon-shaped to hold theball, and a block of rubber, j', is secured upon the block af, and theend of the lever rests upon the rubber.

By striking the outer end of the lever the ball is thrown a greater orless distance, according to the force of the blow.

l iind the action of the trap is improved by the spring e, and it ismade more reliable, The pivot of the lever is above the surface of theblock a, and when made of cast-iron, the bearings d of the lever are tobe cast with the block.

By the use of this apparatus a very interesting game of ball can beplayed, and the laborious work of pitching the ball to the batsman isdispensed with.

I claim as my invention- 1. The trap for a ball made of the block a,with spikes b upon the under side, and with the bearings d for the leverc above the block a, substantially as set forth.

2. In combination with the block a and lever e, the spring e and therubber block f, for the purposes and as set forth.

Signed by me this 2d day of April, A. D. 1877.

THOMAS WILKIE.

Witnesses:

HENRY S. DE BERRI, E. WAGKERHAGEN.

